The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has accused the President Muhammadu Buhari administration of being complicit in terrorism, noting that the alleged secret release of over100 Boko Haram terrorists from the Kirikiri Medium Security Prison, in Lagos, is proof.
Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA national coordinator in a statement on Monday, said the alleged overnight release of the inmates showed the complicity of Muhammadu Buhari, as well as his nepotistic regime, noting a few instances where some individuals had fingered the government’s involvement with the terrorist group.
He said, “Nigerians are shocked at the latest antics of the regime of the President in the reported release of over 100 Boko Haram terrorists from the Kirikiri prison. It shows the total absence of transparency and accountability in the fight on terror. The secrecy behind the intermittent release of terrorists under different guises by the current government is abysmal and anti-people and illegal.
“The recent release of Boko Haram convicted terrorists at Lagos prison validates claims by a former Navy Commodore, Kunle Olawunmi, who said on live television in August 2021, that Boko Haram has moneybags in Aso Rock and the National Assembly.
In September 2020, a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the late Obadiah Mailafia, also said a serving northern governor is a Boko Haram leader.”
According to reports, the group said the terrorists were released in a swap-deal arrangement for the train travelers, who had been abducted on March 28, 2022. They noted also that the Nigerian Correctional Services had kept mum over the issue since the reports had been confirmed by the Foundation for Investigative Journalism.
Onwubiko explained that Buhari had confirmed that amnesty was granted to terrorists last Thursday when he gave his speech at the passing-out parade and commissioning ceremony of cadets of Regular course 69 of the Nigeria Defence Academy, at Afaka, Kaduna State.
He further added that the Governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum, had also severally confirmed that amnesty was granted to repentant Boko Haram terrorists who were given capital and reintegrated into society.
The group called on the federal government to “come clean” on the purported release of the inmates, adding that the current National Assembly should either work or be discarded for their unresponsiveness to their duties.
The statement read in part, “HURIWA calls on the government to come clean on the release of the Kirikiri inmates. We also demand that the near moribund National Assembly should work or be consigned to the dustbin of history forever for its unresponsiveness to their duty as legislators in this dispensation from 2019.”